Twin Disasters
Off-season injuries sideline two of the Minnesota Twins' biggest bats on the farm. One is gone for the year. The other's fate hangs in the balance.
Jim Mandelaro
MLNSportsZone.com
Two Twins outfielders: One is on the outside of the fence looking in; The other is simply on the fence. One knows he will not play one inning for the Minnesota Twins this year. The other realizes he could meet the same fate.
Jason Kubel and Michael Restovich are teammates facing uncertain futures for two very different reasons.
Kubel, the No. 2 pick in the MLN Fab50™ 2004 Baseball rankings and MLN's 2004 Minor League Player of the Year, is out for the year after tearing three ligaments in his left knee in a collision last October during an Arizona Fall League game.
He'll have to be content with planning his December wedding to fiancee Blake Tonkin and have a house built in Palmdale, Calif.
"It'll keep me busy,'' Kubel says, dealing well with the heartbreak of earning a slice of the Twins outfield for 2005, only to see his major league ambitions sidelined for another season.
Restovich will play baseball this season, team and organization unknown. The Rochester, Inn., native, is quickly running out of options.
The Twins will keep him if they decide to go with five outfielders, and move him if they opt to add an extra infielder to their Opening Day roster. It is doubtful that he would pass through waivers and return to Triple-A for a fourth season.
Restovich and Kubel both suffered off-season injuries that curtailed their development. Kubel's injury was far more serious, but he has the good fortune of being anointed as a franchise player of the future. Restovich's baseball tea leaves are less certain.
Shock and Awe
Restovich, a twenty-six year-old, 6-foot-4, 250-pound outfielder, as polite a person as you'll ever meet, has shock-and-awe power when he’s healthy, hitting mammoth homers at his various minor-league stops. He belted 52 in the 2001-02 seasons.
He was visiting relatives in St. Louis in January when he slipped on ice and broke his collarbone. He was in a sling for seven weeks and didn't resume hitting until late February. His throwing ability is still limited.
Michael grew up 80 miles from the Metrodome, idolizing Twins stars such as Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek. It was a dream come true when his beloved team selected him in the second round of the 1997 draft.
"The Twins are all I've ever known,'' he says.
He has spent most of the past three seasons at Triple-A, with brief big-league stints tossed in. In 61 games, he has hit .274 with 3 home runs and 11 RBI, numbers that will not exactly make Twins fans forget Torii Hunter.
He was recalled three times last year, hitting .255 with 2 home runs in 29 games.
Restovich hit .375 in spring training last year but still was sent to Triple-A Rochester. He made his frustration known to Twins manager Ron Gardenshire, albeit in his typical respectful way.
"It was a tough season,'' he says. "I'd get called up, sit and then get sent back to Triple-A.''
In 106 games with Rochester, he hit .247 with 20 home runs and 62 RBI.
"Michael is one of the nicest players I've ever managed,'' Red Wings skipper Phil Roof says. "He's one of the hardest-working players, too. He deserves a chance to play in the big leagues, but outfield is a tough position to crack in Minnesota.''
Waiting for Young 61
While Restovich plays and waits to see if the Twins will go long on players in the infield or outfield, Kubel simply waits.
Jason's injury drove the Twins to re-sign right fielder Jacque Jones, keeping intact a potent trio that includes Hunter and Shannon Stewart. The top reserve outfielder is Lew Ford, who had a breakout season last year.
He is at the Twins' spring-training facility in Fort Myers, Florida. He only works out from 10 a.m. to noon each day. He rides the bike, stretches, does his squats, then calls it a day.
"Nice schedule," he jokes, "but I'd rather play.''
Kubel was selected by Minnesota in the 12th round of the 2000 draft. After posting three solid seasons in the low minors, he turned in an outstanding 2004 season and rose from Double-A to the majors. He hit a combined .352-22-100 in 127 games between Double-A New Britain and Rochester, winning the International League batting title with a .343 average. He was named the organization's Minor League Hitter of the Year.
The sweet-swinging left-handed hitter continued to excel after being promoted to the Twins in late August, batting .300 in 23 games. He had positioned himself perfectly to take over as Minnesota's right fielder in 2005.
"It would have been a great year if it ended there,'' he says.
Instead, he was sent to the Arizona Fall League for further seasoning. On October 19th, he collided with Grand Canyon second baseman Ryan Raburn while both were chasing a shallow fly.
"We both called it at the same time,'' Kubel says. "I tried to stop and he tried to slide under me. Instead, he hit my left knee and left some nasty little cleat marks in my shin.
"It was more my fault than anything.''
Kubel didn't realize the severity of his injury until the next morning.
"I tried to get up and walk it off, but there was nothing in my knee to keep me up,'' he says. "I took two steps and it gave out.''
The 22-year-old had torn three of the four ligaments that hold the knee together. He underwent surgery on Dec. 2 and couldn't walk without crutches for two months.
Kubel has tried to remain positive.
"I got tired toward the end of last season,'' he says. "My legs will get bigger and stronger because of this.''
He hopes to be running sometime in May and batting in June. He'll head home to California when the Twins break camp but will rehab in Fort Myers and Minneapolis throughout the season.
Farm director Jim Rantz has no doubts Kubel will be good as new in 2006.
"He wasn't scheduled to be with us this early anyway,'' Rantz says. "He kind of forced that by the great season he had. He has a great work ethic, and he will be back.''
Roof has tried to keep Kubel's spirits high.
"I told him, 'You did something in this organization that hasn't been done in a while. You won a Triple-A batting title,'' the manager says. "I told him, 'This is not a wasted year. Go over all the games you had last year in your mind. Try to get back in August.''
That won't happen, Kubel says. He has seen teammates like Joe Mauer and Joe Mays rush their return from injuries, only to be sidelined again.
"There's no chance I'll play this season,'' he says.
Kubel is out. Restovich is out of options.
One waits for next year. The other just waits.
UPDATE: Michael Restovich was claimed on waivers by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Thursday, March 31, 2005.
